


if everything could ever feel this real forever

by ninemoons42



Series: Dragon Effect - Annika [8]
Category: Dragon Age: Inquisition, Mass Effect
Genre: Anachronistic, Anachronistic Technology, F/M, Inspired by Music, Introspection, No Dialogue, Slow Dancing, references to Hamilton
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-20
Updated: 2015-11-20
Packaged: 2018-05-02 14:25:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 578
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5251544
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ninemoons42/pseuds/ninemoons42
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Annika snatches a moment for herself on her ship, and thinks about music and playlists.</p>
            </blockquote>





	if everything could ever feel this real forever

She was pretty sure that there was something in the fucking _evil_ implants that could somehow send the music that she wanted to hear straight into her ears, straight into her auditory cortex – but no, she was allowed to be old-fashioned even in the middle of a galaxy-wide war.

So this was the scene, and she ran her fingertips carefully over a leather-padded arch, over foam and sleek plastic. She hit the switch tucked just above the left-hand can, delicate movement with her broken nail, and put them on. A few moments of adjustment. A tender spot in her scalp where she was still healing from a shower of shattered glass and who the fuck else knew what she’d been rolling around in during the last sortie.

Now she looked at her omni-tool. A faint tickle of amusement, a real emotion: it was no longer a question of who on the Normandy was keeping private playlists of private music on their devices; it was more a question of who _wasn’t_. Garrus listened to some kind of turian metal when he was playing sniper; Tali had a collection of dance tunes from practically everywhere in the known systems; Mordin carried more than just a sampling of Gilbert and Sullivan around with him.

Even EDI’d gotten in on the act, though her tastes changed from week to week. This week it was apparently an oddly appealing mix of rap, hip-hop, profanity, and Earth history, all blended together and splashed out onto a theater stage.

Annika looked up at another whirling spiral of nebula-light and supernova remnants and cued one of her lists up. Songs that reminded her of the depths of space, songs full of sappy stories. Silly love songs. 

The shouts of an enthusiastic audience filled up her ears, and she closed her eyes and put her fingertips to her headphones. Nodded along to the rising lilt of the music. Softly, she sang along with the singer. She didn’t have much of a voice, and she was the first to admit it, but she could have a moment like this, couldn’t she, alone with the music and –- 

A hiss from behind her. Opening and closing.

Eyes on her back.

An appreciative wave of applause and hooting and encouragement, only in her ears, only in her mind.

From the heavy tread of his step she knew who had come to find her here in the depths of ship’s night, the depths of off-shift, and the stray thought flickered into her mind: did Cullen have a playlist? What did he have on it?

She watched him come closer in the glassine material of the window. When he stopped a respectful distance away she turned. Tapped her headphones and then put that same finger across her lips, forestalling his words.

The song that beat against her was nothing at all appropriate for dancing, or at least not the way people danced when they put their arms around each other’s shoulders and waists and pressed foreheads together – but she did it anyway and the rapid chords were the counterpoint to swaying slow steps. Cullen’s sigh, and one hand coming up to cup the back of her head. 

Stars dissolved and fell away. The song faded away, the crowds falling into silence. A bittersweet and contemplative and monumental instrumental. 

Annika leaned closer, and Cullen turned them in a slow spiraling circle. No wars here. They weren’t even on the _Normandy_. Just for a moment.

**Author's Note:**

> I am also on [tumblr](http://ninemoons42.tumblr.com/) and my Dragon Age: Inquisition blog is [here](http://ninemoons42-inquisition.tumblr.com/).


End file.
